Attack of the Killer Thumbclaw
by DrWheelieMobile
Summary: After the death of his beloved grandfather, Littlefoot finds a new friend from outside the Great Valley. However, that isn't the only thing he and the Gang are going to find... RATED T DUE TO BLOOD IN LATER CHAPTERS.
1. Escape

Believe it or not folks, this is my first fanfic D

**Kay, guys. Here's the first chappie of my first fanfic D. It's a bit boring I know, but I couldn't think of anything else :P. Oh, and for those wondering, I have used the following to describe some of the new characters/species.**

**Sail-back: **_**Ouranosaurus**_

**Thumb-claw: **_**Suchomimus**_

**Belly-dragger: Crocodile (but primarily **_**Deinosuchus**_**)**

**And no. Other than the sailback and thumb-claw, I don't own any of the characters etc. in this fic.**

**Anyways, enough of me, time for the first chappie XD:**

A heavy storm was gathering over the Mysterious Beyond, an area dominated by burning mountains and great rivers of deep, red lava. These hazards, however, were the last thing on a young dinosaur's mind. As the adolescent female sail-back desperately tried to dodge the showers of falling rocks from the nearly pitch-black sky, she was being pursued by a bizarre, but nevertheless extremely vicious sharptooth.

He ran on two legs, but when stationary he stood on four. Both of his hands possessed giant, curved claws, and he appeared to have the head, back and tail of a belly-dragger. His cruel yellow eyes said only one thing: kill.

The sail-back was all too aware of this, and it was certainly not helpful considering she was the only living dinosaur within a mile or so, even though she was so skeletal that it was tempting to think of her as a walking xylophone.

As she sprinted as fast as her (now very weak) legs could carry her, she came across the end of this particular part of the Beyond: a cave, guarded by a huge lake of tar. Instinctively, she stopped near the edge, with the sight of ancient dinosaur's skeleton unnerving her.

Normally, if she were faced with this kind of obstacle, she would turn back and find another route, but coming up behind her was the thumb-claw, his long, toothy jaws almost drowning in his own saliva. She was faced with a dilemma: risk probable death and attempt to cross the tar pool with the very scattered stepping stones, or face certain death in the jaws of the thumb-claw.

Her instinct told her to stay away from the predator, and, using all the strength she could muster, she leaped towards one of the stepping stones. To her amazement, and the sharptooth's anger, she managed to land on it. With her heart almost trying to fly out of her chest, she managed to catch at least some breath, whilst the thumb-claw screeched loudly at her. With a vengeful look, and a very painful stomach, he walked away from the edge of the tar pool, his black scales making him seem to disappear into the ash-covered landscape.

The sail-back's goal was now to reach the cave, which was further away from her life-saving rock than it was from the edge of the tar pool. Regardless, she had to take a chance, especially when a volcano erupted nearby. That shock sent her leaping towards the cave.

Thankfully for her, there was another (albeit, much smaller) stone between the mouth of the cave and the rock which she just jumped from. With another leap of faith, she was finally in relative safety… not to mention shelter from the pounding rain. She then laid herself down deep inside, and, hidden in a dark corner, she closed her eyes, and for the first time in days, drifted into remote sleep.

**I know what you are thinking: this isn't a very long chapter. But I can assure you, there will be more XD. However, I'm not gonna be overly active where writing is concerned: I've got other things I feel need doing.**

**If you have any criticisms with my writing, PLEASE MAKE THEM CONSTRUCTIVE!! **


	2. Saying goodbye

Believe it or not folks, this is my first fanfic D

**Sorry it took so long, guys – I'm quite busy right now :P. But yes, this is the second chappie (I think you may have guessed that, though). Oh well.**

**Oh, and I forgot to tell you, this fic ignores ALL THE SEQUELS/EPISODES (that includes the 4****th**** and 10****th**** ones).**

**Finally, yes you've guessed it, I don't own anything other than the sail-back and thumb-claw.**

**ANYWAYS, enough of my babble:**

As that same storm crawled over the mountains, it eventually reached the legendary Great Valley, a sanctuary known by many: but seen by a surprising few. So, to live your entire life in this great, green oasis was a miracle in itself.

Littlefoot, who was now within touching distance of true adulthood, was one of the lucky ones. He and his four best friends all first stepped into the Valley at an early age, and they all grew up together. The multi-species Gang rarely, if ever, left the Great Valley since that fortunate day when Littlefoot was guided by the ghost of his mother to this green paradise.

But this wasn't a fortunate day in the slightest. Most of the time, if it started to rain in the Valley (which it did surprisingly often), the Gang would take immediate shelter in the forested Southern Corner. However, today, this wasn't the case. There was a very good reason for this.

Age had been catching up with both of Littlefoot's grandparents, and several nights earlier, Grandma Longneck had left her life behind. Now, her mate was about to do the same. In an almost repeat performance of the death of his daughter, Grandpa could no longer support his great weight on his formerly sturdy legs. Even breathing was now a challenge for the 100-year-old longneck.

"Littlefoot," the old dinosaur's hoarse voice whispered, "I, don't think I, could,"

"No, you can't go."

"I don't want to leave you either, but nothing can remain in this world forever."

As much as he didn't want his grandfather to see, the younger longneck's sorrowful tears were now beyond his control. The same was true with his friends, even Cera.

In an attempt to reassure his grandson, Grandpa told him, the best he could, "I honestly do not know where I would've been without you."

"I know, but," It was clear that Littlefoot had trouble finding his voice, because it had been drowned in his pain and grief.

Still, just before the final moment, he managed to barely whisper to his dying grandfather, "I'm really going to miss you, Grandpa."

"Same here, Littlefoot." They then spend a final moment together, looking back at the happy times they spent together.

Grandpa then felt his heart stop. The beating that he experienced from the day of his birth was something he would never feel again. And right now, it was a miracle that even his eyes were still open.

"I'm so sorry, my grandson. You don't know how much I love you." he attempted to say, but whether or not Littlefoot actually understood wasn't something that was completely clear. Still, it wasn't the words themselves as much as the dedication in the dying longneck's voice that got to him.

Littlefoot did, however, pick up his grandfather's last word; a very weak, yet very meaningful, "Goodbye." After that, Grandpa Longneck slowly drifted away, never to come back.

The entire Gang shared the devastation, but understandably, Littlefoot had the largest stab in his heart, for if it weren't for the thought of his grandparents, chances are that he would've died on his perilous journey to the Great Valley almost 10 years earlier.

Ducky, who was particularly close to the longneck, suggested to the others to leave him with his grandfather. As hard as it was, Cera, Petrie and Spike followed her to the Southern Corner, leaving Littlefoot alone to say one more thing to his deceased grandfather, "I love you too."

**Yes, I am fully aware as to how samey/depressing this chapter is, but like Grandpa said, "Nothing can remain in this world forever." Shame…**

**And anyways, the following chapters (which shouldn't take as long as this one) should be better than this (at least, I ****hope**** they'll be better than this).**

**If you have any criticisms with my writing, PLEASE MAKE THEM CONSTRUCTIVE!! **


	3. A new friend

**Apologies guys P. I reposted chappie 2 twice, which I swear wasn't meant to happen. In the unlikely event that you're rereading my boring story, then this should explain a thing or two.**

**Also,**** other than the sail-back and the thumb-claw, I don't own any of the characters, locations etc.**

**And because I could be bothered, I have used the following to describe some of the new characters/species (I should've done this ages ago).**

**Ramming thick-head: **_**Pachycephalosaurus**_

**Giant sharptooth: **_**Tyrannosaurus**_**, **_**Allosaurus**_**, you get the idea**

**Fast-biter: Dromaeosaurs (like **_**Velociraptor**_** or **_**Deinonychus**_**)**

**Swimming sharptooth: pliosaurs, sharks, stuff like that**

**I must be boring you to tears right now, but ohsey wellsey:**

The next day, in the cave in the Mysterious Beyond, the female sail-back was finally beginning to wake up. Something inside her told her that she was now very close to her ultimate goal indeed.

Even if it was fraught with packs of ramming thick-heads, she managed to find her way through the network of caves without too much fuss. Still, she was still a very frightened soul.

At last, after two, draining hours, she reached the end of the cave, and saw her first bit of light from the Bright Circle in days. Exhausted, the weak sail-back continued on until she collapsed in the light. She had finally stumbled over the Great Valley.

Thankful that she had finally found the sanctuary that she had spent her entire life seeking out, the sail-back closed her shattered eyes, lulled not by the sound of erupting volcanoes or the piercing screeches of a sharptooth, but this time, of relative peace.

However, that peace didn't last for too long, for after just a few minutes, she was awoken by the sound of something munching on the ferns that she was sleeping on. Spike was completely oblivious about the fact that he was just yards away from the sail-back, but then again, you would be if there were a large bush between you and the mentioned dinosaur.

But, as she was slowly getting up, he did hear rustling coming from nearby. The noises intrigued him, and as he peered through the leaves, Spike noticed the bright red of the sail. Understandably, he was very surprised.

The sail-back, too, was rather frightened when she spotted the spike-tail, for Spike's back plates had all but matured, and he was now a fairly handsome individual. The rest of the Gang, who were drinking from the not-too-far-away Boarder River, heard her startled, zebra-like alarm-call, and rushed over to investigate.

"What's going on?" Cera demanded when she and the Gang arrived at the scene. Through the sail-back's eyes, she was almost more intimidating than Spike, and she did her best to try and hide behind the bush that, just moments ago, separated her from him.

The spike-tail, who was now confident and old enough to talk properly, replied to the threehorn's question, "I don't know but, there was-"

Before he could continue, however, Littlefoot hushed him for a moment. He could easily hear the shallow, panicked breathing coming from the bush, and from that alone, he could tell that whoever it was, they were very scared indeed. Taking great care as to not scare her further, he slowly and deliberately walked in her direction.

Lowering his great neck down to her level, Littlefoot spoke gently, "It's OK. We won't hurt you."

"You, sure?"

"I'm positive." As the sceptical sail-back stepped out, it was clear that she'd seen a lot in her life. She was just under Spike's age, but she looked a lot smaller, even if she did have a sail.

In front of so many new faces, most of which were much bigger than she was, the sail-back couldn't help but tremble. Her lack of muscle and frightened, washed-out face were almost enough to send someone into tears, but as the silent minutes past, she grew used to the surrounding herd. And anyway, Cera, realising that her tone of voice hadn't helped where gaining her trust was concerned, had backed off and was now standing next to Ducky.

Eventually, it was Petrie who broke the silence, by cautiously asking, "What your name?"

The sail-back's timid reply, "Yurana."

But, to Littlefoot, there were other concerns. He'd only ever vaguely heard of 'sail-backs' and this was the first time he'd ever seen one in the flesh (there were, at least in his memory, no sail-backs in the Great Valley). Therefore, he wondered why there was suddenly one in front of him right now.

When he asked her, Yurana was at first, too scared to tell him the answer properly, but after plucking up at least some courage, she nervously mentioned, "Ryon."

"Ry-who?" a confused Spike thought aloud.

"Ryon, the thumb-claw. He's after me!"

Most of the Gang had never heard of a thumb-claw, except Cera. Whilst still with her father before she reached the Great Valley with her multi-species herd, she learnt about the numerous species of sharptooth that roam the lands. Among the giants, the fast-biters, the swimming sharpteeth and the belly-draggers, there was a rare race of sharpteeth that dwarfed them all where danger was concerned.

She explained, "There was this legend that, this giant sharptooth and belly-dragger had an egg, which hatched into the first thumb-claw."

"So, Ryon is half-giant sharptooth, half-belly-dragger?" Ducky inquired to that. With all her mental strength, Yurana answered, "Yeah." As she said that one, simple word, she felt that the huge claws on Ryon's front feet had already gone through her body, and, even though it had just calmed down, her shaking was now back into the uncontrollable zone. It was even more so when she also mentioned, "Ryon's the last one, but I think he's also the most dangerous."

In spite of the fact that he was unsure why such a predator would go for such a specific target, Littlefoot reassured the fragile sail-back, by coolly saying, "You don't need to worry about Ryon or any of these 'thumb-claws' anymore, Yurana. No sharptooth has ever entered the Great Valley, and no sharptooth ever will."

"Uh, I don't know," Until now, Yurana had to put up with a lifetime of uncertainty, so her scepticism was only natural.

"It will be fine. You'll be perfectly safe here."

Even if she had considerable apprehension, the sail-back decided that she should at least make the most of what the Great Valley had to offer: endless supplies of fresh tree-stars, plenty of cool water to drink, and above all (well, to her anyway), protection from the sharpteeth that continued to dwell in the Mysterious Beyond.

**Well, there's a first prize for out-of-character-ness. But oh well :P.**

**Thinking about it, I don't know if it is worth keeping chappie 2 or not. I might do something about it at a later stage.**

**If you have any criticisms with my writing, PLEASE MAKE THEM CONSTRUCTIVE!! **


	4. Ambush

**Now it gets interesting XD. Then again, it might be a bit repetitive, but, I'm outta ideas breaks down sobbing '(.**

**And in case you is wondering, no, I don't own anything, except for Yurana and Ryon. The 'Great Sharptooth' is from the original (why no other adult sharptooth has a name is away from me :P).**

**Without further ado, I present the next chappie of what is probably the most pointless LBT fic you will ever come across:**

But, what Littlefoot didn't realise was that, almost no sharptooth was intelligent enough to figure out how to reach the Great Valley. (The only sharptooth that was apparently smart enough to figure out the complicated route of the caves was the Great Sharptooth, and he drowned before he had the opportunity to do so). Or was he?

One night, several months after (the now much stronger and fleshed out) Yurana finally found the Great Valley, an unfortunately familiar shadow was creeping through the same cave she hurdled through.

The black dinosaur crept quietly, but even so, was found by a ramming thick-head. They were aggressive dinosaurs anyway, but when it found out about the 'shadow's' presence, it immediately cowered in a corner. Thankfully for it, the thick-head wasn't what he was after.

Creeping slowly on four legs (some of the passages were two low for any large, bipedal animal like himself), the yellow-eyed monster was inching closer to the exit to the Valley, something that many a sharptooth would kill themselves just to hunt in its rich grounds. He watched every step that he took, taking extra care as to not jolt a stone on the floor, or even brush his back or tail on the walls.

He had now been doing this for several days, because of his slow pace, and in that time, the rumbling pain in his stomach was getting on his nerves. He needed to kill something, but a mere ramming thick-head wasn't of his taste. He was thinking more along the lines of sail-back.

Finally, more than the silence of the cave reached his ears. And no longer could he feel the cold, hard rock on his feet, but rather, . Ryon had finally reached the Great Valley. Now, he had a different mission – to find his prime target: Yurana.

This time, the thumb-claw reared up, as it took less energy walking on two legs than it did walking on four. It also meant that his nose was higher in the air, so was more able to track down his prey.

It was a calm night, so Ryon didn't find any of the scent he wanted, so, being part belly-dragger, he sneaked into the Boarder River, and decided that he had to hold on for just a few more hours.

But the dawn came, and still no sign of any sail-back. The thumb-claw's hunger and frustration was starting to get the better of him, so, when the first dinosaur (a thumb-spike) came down for the early morning drink, Ryon struck, using the claws on his front feet to stab the dinosaur to death.

Ducky, who was the closest to the River, heard the thumb-spike's last, panicked, and painful cries, and, considering this kind of thing almost never happens in the Valley, decided to investigate.

She soon wished she hadn't, for standing in front of her, was a giant, jet-black sharptooth, ripping large chunks of flesh of the dead body, and snapping them up in monstrous, belly-dragger-like jaws. Due to shock, her body started to tremble beyond her control. She had to warn her friends.

"Spike! Petrie! Yurana!" the desperate big-mouth called out as soon as she was far away enough from Ryon, "The thumb-claw! He's in the Valley!"

Yurana's distress was probably more obvious than anyone else's, but everyone had the same urgent emotion. "We got to tell Littlefoot and Cera about this!" the flyer critically squawked, and he screeched over the Valley.

His cry for help ended becoming a double-sided coin, for while Littlefoot and Cera (who were gathering up tree-stars on the other side of the Valley) did hear and react, so, unfortunately, did Ryon. Spotting Yurana nearby, he gave up on the thumb-spike carcass, and charged, with his eyes for her vulnerable neck.

In spite of her newly found strength, sail-backs were naturally relatively weak dinosaurs, and Yurana knew it. She needed help, and she needed it now, or else, her search for sanctuary away from her wrost enemy would be in vain.

**I know you knew this was g****onna happen, but like I said, I'm outta ideas. (BTW, 'thumb-spike' means **_**Iguanodon**_** ;)**

**If you have any criticisms with**** my writing, PLEASE MAKE THEM CONSTRUCTIVE!! **


	5. The Conflict

**I do a good job of wasting your life, don't I? XD**

**But anyway, other than saying that I don't own anything except for Yurana and Ryon, what else is there to say?**

**So, at long last, the final chappie of ma pathetically repetitive story is here does happy dance:**

Thankfully for Yurana, Spike's impressive tail was between her and Ryon, but the latter was bigger than he was. He had dealt with spike-tails before, and had killed a considerable percentage of them in his life, so Spike wasn't exactly safe.

His adoptive sister wasn't much help, for she was almost as defenceless as Yurana. At least Petrie could fly away, as he eventually gathered enough confidence to dive bomb the thumb-claw.

However, Ryon was unfazed by this, and his merciless eyes continued to lust for a bite into the sail-back's neck. But before he knew it, he was knocked to the ground.

The swipe was credited to Littlefoot's impressive, whip-like tail. Even so, it proved to be a double-sided coin, for whilst he did manage to save Yurana and Ducky, he was now putting himself at considerable risk.

He continued to lash out at the thumb-claw, but he was by now unfazed by this, and, being surprisingly agile, he managed to jump out the way whenever he saw the longneck's tail.

It wasn't just Littlefoot's tail that he had to worry about, however: Spike's tail was even more dangerous, not least because of the spikes that inspired Ducky to name him when he was born. Petrie dive-bombing him from above didn't help either.

Ryon tried to remain focused, but he was seriously outnumbered. He swung his claws at the larger dinosaurs, and snapped at the flyer, but he still had just one ultimate goal on his mind: Yurana.

Keeping his eye firmly on her brilliant scarlet sail, he charged in her direction, whilst still trying to keep Petrie at bay with his legendary claws. His jaws hung open, ready for the kill that he had waited so long for.

Yurana was very aware of this, and she and Ducky tried to run. However, not only would Ryon ultimately catch up with them, but also at that moment, her brain wasn't able to tell her legs to move her body.

"YURANA!"

"Move it!" Predictably, both Ducky and Littlefoot thought that the female sail-back was insane, just standing there looking like a deer caught in headlights. But she genuinely wanted to run, and yet something in her head told her to just stay there. She was frozen.

Cera, too, noticed her odd behaviour, and decided that she had to step in. Why she hadn't already was a mystery, but nothing was going to get in the way of this vulnerable creature.

Just before Ryon could reach Yurana, she galloped towards and stood firmly between them. "Listen, sharptooth! If you're gonna get her, then you're gonna need to get through me first!"

The resulting "Cera, don't!" came from all directions, but particularly from Yurana, yet she ignored all of them. She was going to end this sharptooth's life, and it was going to be a slow, painful death, unlike the relatively quick drowning of the Great Sharptooth many years earlier.

Ryon, meanwhile, had to find a way around the threehorn to his chosen prey, while trying to avoid the massive horns backed by a huge neck frill. Eventually, he decided to kill her instead.

Now, it was between Cera and Ryon. Long, toothy jaws and gigantic curved claws one side, and massive horns and bulk on the other.

It was to prove challenging for both of them, but at least Cera had backup: and surprisingly enough not just from Littlefoot, Spike and Petrie.

The thump-_spikes_ that were stabbed into his flesh were none other than Yurana's. The fact that she was now in a herd meant that instincts she never had before were now rapidly blossoming, like the winter snow melting to reveal the spring rainbow of flowers. And now, she was most definitely going to use them.

She knew that what she was doing was risky, probably fatal, but the same voice in her head that told her to freeze on the spot, was now telling her to get revenge on the one predator that had stalked her all her life.

Nobody, not least Ryon, could believe it, and frankly neither could Yurana herself, but nevertheless, she continued to stab in his back, side, and at one point, stomach. She, in turn, managed to get her once magnificent sail ripped to pieces.

The disbelief shared by the rest of the group meant that, for a few, extremely long and bloody minutes, Yurana and Ryon were battling it out alone, but eventually, Cera came to her senses, and realised that the sail-back was losing.

Charging like a gigantic rhinoceros, she aimed for Ryon's chest. At this stage, Yurana was finding it hard to stand on her own two feet, so the need for assistance was all but stronger.

Cera's loud bellows as she galloped towards the predator naturally made him turn around so that he faced her. This was his downfall, however, for his reaction wasn't quick enough, and even if it was, a huge, horned head was coming his way.

In the time it took his brain to process that danger was heading for him, he felt something extremely sharp enter his chest, and then his heart. For the last few seconds, it had been racing, but now, it was as still as a stone. And from now on, that was how it was going to be.

For the first time in the long, gruelling hour, complete silence had broken out across the Great Valley, interrupted only by heavy breathing from the Gang. But a well-deserved rest was the last thing on Littlefoot's mind.

"Yurana, you ok?" he asked her in an extremely worried tone. She didn't reply. She was awake, she was shaking violently and she was breathing heavily, but she was too shocked to speak.

The longneck remained worried, for this was almost exactly how his mother was just before she died (from blood loss, and partial shock). In a very deja-vu manner, he asked her to "get up!"

Yurana attempted, along with a bit of support from Ducky (who, in the weeks since she first arrived in the Valley, she had built up a considerable friendship, probably due to the fact that their species were so similar). While her legs were as wobbly as a jelly, she eventually succeeded.

Once standing alone, she looked at Ryon's dead body, and then at the Gang, but mainly Cera. "He's, gone." Normally, something like Yurana's comment would be met with a sarcastic reply from the threehorn, but she too, was speechless.

Eventually, the sail-back wondered aloud, "I really hope this won't happen again."

"I can assure you, I might've been wrong this time, but until now, no sharptooth has ever seen the Valley, and no sharptooth ever will," Littlefoot replied as soon as he'd found his voice.

This time, she decided to accept, for the few other sharpteeth that she had encountered in her life didn't sport nearly half the intelligence of Ryon, and the caves that led into the Valley were very complex. Plus, Littlefoot seemed very sure that this was the first sharptooth he'd ever seen since before he discovered the Valley. Thus, her reply, "I believe you."

From then on, not only didn't Yurana ever see any sharpteeth ever again, but also she became a proper, solid member and friend of the Gang. She didn't need to worry about Ryon anymore. And, to top it off, her sail managed to grow back within the year.

**Throws massive party You guys don't know how glad I am that this story is finally done. It was starting to get on my nerves P**

**But anyway, I am glad you have enjoyed reading ma story (then again, that might not be a good thing XD), but due to lack of ideas, I'm most likely not gonna right many more. And those that do will probably suck. Oh well.**

**If you have any criticisms with my writing, PLEASE MAKE THEM CONSTRUCTIVE!! **


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